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The Waynesboro Wizarding Festival has come and gone for another year. The ceramic studio was busy creating all sorts of oversized candy so we could transform into Honeypots a magical sweet shop. We offered a make and take of painting your own chocolate frog necklace or magnet which worked out really well and seemed to be a big success! I walked around a little this year and most of the focus seemed to be on the Farmers Market area which is new for our town this year. While I understand wanting to promote this great new area of downtown I did prefer it when main street was closed and vendors and local businesses got into the spirit with decorating and dressing up all along main street. While it is only the second year for the Wizarding Festival and I realize it still needs time to grow and expand I was just a little disappointed that there didn’t seem to be as many activities as last year. Still I am hopeful and excited for next years event. You can see my blog posts from 2017 Wizarding Festival here, here, and here.

I thought it was time I talk a little bit about some of the books I’ve been reading this Summer. There is of course book club, but that is a bit sporadic so I do a lot of reading on my own. I like to listen to audiobooks while I sew or work on pottery, and then every night I have a second book that I read on my ipad before going to sleep.
Currently I am reading the book pictured above. The Sewing Machine. This book hops around in time from the Singer Factory Strike of 1911, to present day. The people and their stories all relate to a vintage Singer 99K hand crank sewing machine. I’ve been enjoying it thoroughly and its one of those books that I find myself not quite wanting to end. It just gives me a cozy nice feeling reading it. That’s not to say everything happening in the book is happy, but overall it leaves me with a nice feeling.

Next up is a book I finished recently called Picture The Dead. This was a gothic young adult novel with lots of interesting illustrations through out. Its a combination of historical fiction, ghost story, and mystery. Quite a fast read but charming none the less.

This Summer I read a series of three books called The Southern Reach Trilogy. Book one is Annihilation. I really enjoyed reading all three of these books. The books center around an area of land classified as Area X. Some unknown force has changed this part of our world, and the book begins with an expedition into the area known as The Southern Reach. While there is a sci-fi element to the books there is also mystery, and horror. It gave me a lot of the same feelings as when I read House Of Leaves. Each chapter left me with so many questions and I wish we had read these in book club so I could of joined in a discussion. Once I was done I tried watching the film adaptation. Many things are changed in the movie including the ending, so I just didn’t care for it. The books however-I recommend!
Audiobooks I’ve listened to this Summer include…
–Good Morning Midnight:I heard about this book on an epsiode of What Should I Read Next podcast. I loved this book. While it is a story about the end of the world, it is also about loneliness, the choices we make, and human connections. If you liked Station Eleven I think you would like this one too.
–Sleeping Giants & Waking Gods: The first book took me two tries to get into the story and I’m not sure why but I think the style of writing held me up at first. Parts are written as interviews, interrogations, etc. Once I got into things I was excited to move onto the second book. I’m still waiting on book three from the library. The book begins when a little girl named Rose falls into a hole. When firemen arrive to rescue her they see she is resting in the palm of a giant metal hand. There were parts of these books that made me think of the battles in the Neon Genesis Series between Eva’s and Angels. Then in book two that series is brought up by one of the characters Eva who says she was named after a robot in a Japanese anime series!

You can find a list of all the books I’ve read so far this year here on my Goodreads account. Have you read anything this Summer that really stands out to you? I am always looking for book recommendations!

Please note that the Amazon link above is an Amazon affiliate link and if you purchase something using it I will receive a small Amazon credit.